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Tuesday, August 9, 2016

August Personal Update!

Where to even begin?? This past month has been incredibly hectic. I can tell I'm feeling better lately compared to the last four months because I've posted articles much more frequently. Honestly, I have no idea how I've found the time to do so, though! I suppose the easiest thing to do is dive right in.

Work

Nothing much to update here. Work is busy. Work is life. Work is work. I love my job but it's kind of been a backstory to everything else going on, even if it is the majority of my time.

The Circle

The Primaries and I had our final meet out at Merriam Marketplace, site of Kansas City Pagan Pride Day 2016. We only have one more practice meet before the official day! We're all so excited and honored to be performing the main ritual; I can't even describe the euphoria. My ladies have prepared an amazing community unifying ritual that I'm sure you'll want to see. I'll be introducing it and wrapping it up, but this is truly the circle's creation. The ritual, led by my circle Circle of Fountains, will be at 1:30 pm, followed by a Q&A session at the Pagan Experience tent at 2:30 pm.

I will also personally be at the Pagan Experience tent at 11:30 participating in a group discussion about pagan theologies as a nontheistic witch. Should be interesting!

All of that being said, even if you're not interested in the Pagan Experience or rituals, the KCPPD is an amazing chance to purchase pagan-made goods and see ample live entertainment. It's all happening at the Merriam Marketplace in Merriam, KS from 10 am - 6 pm, so come check it out!

In the meantime, we've started a Pathfinder campaign, led by Laura's husband, Neal. It's been a fun experience, especially as someone who's never tabletop gamed before. I noticed in our first few sessions that we were struggling to remember each other's names and what we looked like so I put my old, rusty character design skills to the test. I popped out quick sketches of each of our characters:

I may or may not be playing a sarcastic, drunk, wine-loving, pink-clad, blonde-haired necromancer...

For those of you who know me very well, yes she's modeled after my long-dead OC Oriella Aurelia.

The Hivemind (aka the three of us severe spoonies, Andrea, Phaedra and I) also did tea at a local tea shop and antique store this past month. It was glorious. My husband actually discovered it after dropping me off at a gig that had zero parking. To pass the time, we meandered the area and found this little tea-themed antique shop called Henry's Antiques, Collectibles and Tearoom. The tea room is only open from 11 am - 2 pm on certain days, so I just had to drag Andrea and Phaedra along ("Drag" is relative. They were dragging me.) It was so much fun! A quiet light brunch with two different kinds of tea followed by two levels of antique shopping. With the move, I'm having to curb my desperate desire for teapots, but the girls found quite a bit they loved. I'll have to bring the entire circle there at some point!

The Familiars

With the pets, no news is always good news. In general, they've been pretty comfortable with the concept of moving again - I think they're just used to it at this point. Poor things.

Artie's been to the new house several times now and he positively loves it. The day we met the plumber there to run a gas line for our dryer, he and I got into a lengthy game of tag on the empty top floor. Every time we go downstairs, he rolls around on the carpet (I can hear him sighing, "Ah, real carpet; no asbestos under carpeting pieces or water."). The backyard is a bit small, but he has made good friends with the neighboring dogs. One side has a Shih Tzu and what I assume is a Labradoodle - both older. Artie was instant best friends with them. The other side has two lovable Pitbull mixes. They're pretty big and make a lot of noise when we're out there: "HEY, PEOPLE, I LOVE PEOPLE, HI." So I think that intimidates Artie a bit, but he still wags his tail at them. So far it's been fantastic.

Which moves me to my next point:

The House!

We're officially homeowners!

We signed the closing papers Friday, July 29th. We're taking the move slow, since we don't have to be out of the rental until August 31st. The moving company comes the 22nd to take our boxed-up life to the last house any of our current pets will ever know (a sentiment that's both heartwarming and heart-wrenching all at the same time).

You asked for more photos, and now you've got them:

Entryway. I already have foyer furniture picked out.

All of our front room furniture will fit perfectly in our new front room!

Dog for scale. Tiny kitchen is tiny, but updated, which was far more important to us.

Skylight helps with tiny-ness.

Dining room is open to the front room. Thinking of making a coffee/wine nook behind the dining table.

New ritual room! Getting it out of the basement so we can stop having flooding problems with it.

I still haven't been able to choose a name for our new home. I'm kind of wanting to do something with "eight" for several reasons: (1) There's an octagonal window above the door; (2) This September will be mine and Aaron's eighth wedding anniversary; (3) There are eight primary members. Unfortunately, I loathe the way "eight" sounds, and especially so in other open languages (Acht and Octo sound like I'm about to sneeze). Because the street name is a Native American tribe, I thought about naming it eight in Siksika (Blackfoot language), but I'm only 1/8th and wasn't raised in it, so it seems appropriative. Today, I thought about flipping the eight on its side like the lemniscate (infinity symbol), but that still doesn't give me much of a name. I'm trying to avoid planets, constellations and gods since those aren't things I work with in my craft.

I'm wanting something as elegant as Terra Luna. The beauty and the way it rolls off the tongue is superb. Fortunately, I have until the 22nd to figure everything out.

I only bring my Patreon up because guess whose camera is about to bite the big one? Yeah, the same person who just dropped a massive down payment on a house, is hiring movers and is well overdue for an eye exam and dental appointment. Money is flying out left and right, so replacing my $950 Sony RX100 II isn't exactly in the cards right now. Granted, I think I still have about six months left on it, so it's not a dire emergency. It's just been stalling and having some focusing issues, plus the LCD screen is pretty torn up. Replacing it is officially on the horizon, so to speak. If you cannot support my Patreon but would like to give a one-time donation or would like to add some money as a housewarming gift, I've also started a GoFundMe for the camera here.

Obviously, no amount of money is more important to me than your readership. Thank you so much, everyone, for all of your support! More updates soon!

So happy to hear your home is officially yours!!!! YaY! I'll be looking forward to pictures as you get settled in. Just remember toilet paper...I remember we almost forgot while we were transitioning from apartment to house....hah! As far as your house name goes...is there a certain language you like? For example when I couldn't decide on a name for my art brand, I thought about it and I love the French language. So in the end I named it "joie de vivre designs" . (Joy of life sounds so much more fancier in French) It sums up how I feel when I am creating my art....I'm sure you'll find something that suits your place perfectly! -Vanessa

Ha, you know, toilet paper is something we totally did forget several times. Isn't that ironic! We actually had to call a plumber out because our front toilet backed up; I'm not unconvinced that the cotton balls he found in there were probably from someone who was looking at the house, had to use the bathroom and had no toilet paper since there's literally never been TP here. TMI, I'm sure, but hilarious nonetheless.

Thank you so much, Vanessa! We're looking forward to everything this house can offer us!

Congrats on the home purchase! It's a lovely place, and I can't wait to hear what you name it. Terra Luna was such a poetic name, and it's hard to work that with 'eight.' Maybe try working it through Google Translate on some romance languages? House of Eights in Latin, for instance, is Octava Domum, which sounds nice. Path of Eights is Octava Via, which has a nice ring to it, and seems super Witchy to this Gardnerian.

Thank you so much for all of your suggestions, Melissa! Eight was probably the hardest thing to work with. In the end, I had to work it into the name in different ways than directly translating it. I think it ended up working out well though!

I'm Marietta, a nontheistic witch mixing modernity with traditional practices. My blog focuses on my journey with my familiars and connected spirits, diving deeper into my work with the Man in Black and my psychopomp guide D. Here, I present my rituals, altars and spells as needed while exploring witchcraft theory and history.